Recovery work has resumed at the site of the Mount Maunganui landslide, where six people are missing, Civil Defence says.
Work was put on hold on Sunday due to the risk of further slips after a crack was spotted on the cliff face.
Local MP Sam Uffindell said that diggers can be seen moving at the site.
The recovery work was put on hold yesterday after geotechnical experts spotted a crack in the hillside.
Earlier this morning Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale said specialist equipment was flown in last night, and the engineers had been working to make sure everything was safe.
"They hope to be able to resume work this morning, as soon as they've done those safety checks," he said.
"... The last thing we want to do is put those rescue workers at risk."
He said the families who have lost loved ones say they are feeling the support of the community.
"Their loved ones are still somewhere up the mountain," he said.
"Obviously, police are making good progress in recovering some of them, but there's a bigger identification process to go to make sure who they have recovered."
Drysdale said he understood the frustration from families that work had paused.
'Incredible sadness here'
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the victims' family members have travelled from across New Zealand and overseas to Mount Maunganui.
"These are families and individuals that were enjoying a summer holiday in a campground, and then just unimaginable grief, and suddenly losing their loved one. It's an incredible sadness here, that would be the best way to describe it," Luxon said.
Luxon attended a vigil for the landslide victims that was held last night.
"Everybody's got a connection to this mount. It's been a place of great joy and wellbeing in many ways, but there's no doubt about it, it's incredibly sad."
Luxon said there will be a discussion in Cabinet tomorrow about what support is needed for the regions affected by the severe weather event.
He said there are legitimate questions about why evacuations at a Mount Maunganui campground didn't happen earlier.
Luxon has been meeting with family members of those unaccounted for this morning, after Thursday's landslide at Beachside Holiday Park.
"There's lots of concerns that people have about why they weren't evacuated sooner. I think they are very legitimate, very good questions that need answers."
'Selfless heroes'
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said the first responders involved in the recovery effort are "selfless heroes".
"I have never had more respect and admiration for the first responders and everyone involved in the recovery effort than I do now. They are selfless heroes. It’s a very challenging and dangerous operation and their efforts mean so much to this community," Uffindell wrote on social media.
"Thank you to the Mount Maunganui and Tauranga community for coming together as one in this time."
Uffindell, alongside the Prime Minister and other MPs, attended a vigil for the victims of the Mount Maunganui landslide last night.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones. Their loss is unimaginable."
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said cabinet will this week discuss government support for communities affected by slips and flooding.
Mitchell said he and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have visited all of those areas across the North Island.
He said it was important to let people know they are front of mind - and to assess how the government should respond.
Mitchell said the recovery will be complicated, because each affected area has its own unique set of challenges.
A former Mauao Trust board member says the safety of the track around Mount Maunganui needs to be looked at in the wake of this campsite slip tragedy.
Geotechnical experts are assessing whether it's safe to resume the recovery of the six people missing since the landslide.
Work had to be stopped yesterday, after a crack was found on the cliff face.
Buddy Mikaere, a former iwi representative of Mauao Trust, which was established to protect and preserve the mauri of Mount Maunganui, said there should be a proper assessment of the track.
He says there have been large landslides on the mountain before.
A Gisborne helicopter pilot helping with the East Coast civil defence response says treacherous weather has made flying conditions tough, as floods cut off roads and isolate communities.
Homes in parts of Onepoto and Te Araroa were evacuated over the weekend due to landslide risks, with Tairāwhiti Civil Defence saying people can't return until a geotech assessment is completed.
George Spence and his crew have spent the past three days flying to Te Araroa and Hicks Bay, evacuating stranded residents, delivering food and supplies, and checking powerlines damaged by floodwater.
He says they are seeing a lot of slips and that it appears the weather event's impacts were a little worse than Cyclone Gabrielle, but in a smaller area.
"There's a lot of country that's moved up there for sure," Spence says.
He says there's still a lot of work to be done.
"It's sort of turning into the new norm now, these events coming down. It's just relentless, really. [It's] hard on the fella's living up the coast here."
